Detecting adversarial samples by a vision based perception system

ABSTRACT

In one embodiment, a system receives a first image captured by a capturing device of an ADV. The system applies an image transformation to the first image to generate a second image. The system applies an object detection model to the first and the second images to generate a first and a second output, respectively. The system calculates a similarity metric between the first and the second output. The system detects the first image as an adversarial sample if a temporal variation of the similarity metric between the first image and a prior image is above a threshold.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments of the present disclosure relate generally to operating autonomous vehicles. More particularly, embodiments of the disclosure relate to detecting adversarial samples (e.g., input images) by a vision based perception system for robotic systems or autonomous driving vehicles (ADV).

BACKGROUND

Vehicles operating in an autonomous mode (e.g., driverless) can relieve occupants, especially the driver, from some driving-related responsibilities. When operating in an autonomous mode, the vehicle can navigate to various locations using onboard sensors, allowing the vehicle to travel with minimal human interaction or in some cases without any passengers.

Motion planning and control are critical operations in autonomous driving. However, conventional motion planning operations estimate the difficulty of completing a given path mainly from its curvature and speed, without considering the differences in features for different types of vehicles. Same motion planning and control is applied to all types of vehicles, which may not be accurate and smooth under some circumstances.

Vision-based perception is one of the major tasks for autonomous vehicles and robotic systems, and deep learning based computer vision models have achieved state-of-the-art performance in this task, and have been extensively deployed. However, theses deep neural networks (DNNs) have been shown to be vulnerable to carefully crafted adversarial inputs, e.g., “adversarial samples”. For examples, it has been demonstrated that by placing a carefully crafted small sticker on a stop sign, adversary can trick a vision based perception system of an autonomous vehicle into recognizing it as a speed limit sign.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments of the disclosure are illustrated by way of example and not limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like references indicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a networked system according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an autonomous vehicle according to one embodiment.

FIGS. 3A-3B are block diagrams illustrating an example of a perception and planning system used with an autonomous vehicle according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an adversarial sample module according to one embodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a workflow to detect adversarial samples according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an output of an object detection system for a vehicle according to one embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an output of an object detection system for a vehicle with a perturbation according to one embodiment.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a data processing system according to one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Various embodiments and aspects of the disclosures will be described with reference to details discussed below, and the accompanying drawings will illustrate the various embodiments. The following description and drawings are illustrative of the disclosure and are not to be construed as limiting the disclosure. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thorough understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. However, in certain instances, well-known or conventional details are not described in order to provide a concise discussion of embodiments of the present disclosures.

Reference in the specification to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in conjunction with the embodiment can be included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in the specification do not necessarily all refer to the same embodiment.

According to some embodiments, a system receives a first image captured by a capturing device of an ADV. The system applies an image transformation to the first image to generate a second image. The system applies an object detection model to the first and the second images to generate a first and a second output, respectively. The system calculates a similarity metric between the first and the second output. The system detects the first image as an adversarial sample if a temporal variation of the similarity metric between the first image and a prior image is above a threshold.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an autonomous vehicle network configuration according to one embodiment of the disclosure. Referring to FIG. 1, network configuration 100 includes autonomous vehicle 101 that may be communicatively coupled to one or more servers 103-104 over a network 102. Although there is one autonomous vehicle shown, multiple autonomous vehicles can be coupled to each other and/or coupled to servers 103-104 over network 102. Network 102 may be any type of networks such as a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet, a cellular network, a satellite network, or a combination thereof, wired or wireless. Server(s) 103-104 may be any kind of servers or a cluster of servers, such as Web or cloud servers, application servers, backend servers, or a combination thereof. Servers 103-104 may be data analytics servers, content servers, traffic information servers, map and point of interest (MPOI) servers, or location servers, etc.

An autonomous vehicle refers to a vehicle that can be configured to in an autonomous mode in which the vehicle navigates through an environment with little or no input from a driver. Such an autonomous vehicle can include a sensor system having one or more sensors that are configured to detect information about the environment in which the vehicle operates. The vehicle and its associated controller(s) use the detected information to navigate through the environment. Autonomous vehicle 101 can operate in a manual mode, a full autonomous mode, or a partial autonomous mode.

In one embodiment, autonomous vehicle 101 includes, but is not limited to, perception and planning system 110, vehicle control system 111, wireless communication system 112, user interface system 113, infotainment system 114, and sensor system 115. Autonomous vehicle 101 may further include certain common components included in ordinary vehicles, such as, an engine, wheels, steering wheel, transmission, etc., which may be controlled by vehicle control system 111 and/or perception and planning system 110 using a variety of communication signals and/or commands, such as, for example, acceleration signals or commands, deceleration signals or commands, steering signals or commands, braking signals or commands, etc.

Components 110-115 may be communicatively coupled to each other via an interconnect, a bus, a network, or a combination thereof. For example, components 110-115 may be communicatively coupled to each other via a controller area network (CAN) bus. A CAN bus is a vehicle bus standard designed to allow microcontrollers and devices to communicate with each other in applications without a host computer. It is a message-based protocol, designed originally for multiplex electrical wiring within automobiles, but is also used in many other contexts.

Referring now to FIG. 2, in one embodiment, sensor system 115 includes, but it is not limited to, one or more cameras 211, global positioning system (GPS) unit 212, inertial measurement unit (IMU) 213, radar unit 214, and a light detection and range (LIDAR) unit 215. GPS system 212 may include a transceiver operable to provide information regarding the position of the autonomous vehicle. IMU unit 213 may sense position and orientation changes of the autonomous vehicle based on inertial acceleration. Radar unit 214 may represent a system that utilizes radio signals to sense objects within the local environment of the autonomous vehicle. In some embodiments, in addition to sensing objects, radar unit 214 may additionally sense the speed and/or heading of the objects. LIDAR unit 215 may sense objects in the environment in which the autonomous vehicle is located using lasers. LIDAR unit 215 could include one or more laser sources, a laser scanner, and one or more detectors, among other system components. Cameras 211 may include one or more devices to capture images of the environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle. Cameras 211 may be still cameras and/or video cameras. A camera may be mechanically movable, for example, by mounting the camera on a rotating and/or tilting a platform.

Sensor system 115 may further include other sensors, such as, a sonar sensor, an infrared sensor, a steering sensor, a throttle sensor, a braking sensor, and an audio sensor (e.g., microphone). An audio sensor may be configured to capture sound from the environment surrounding the autonomous vehicle. A steering sensor may be configured to sense the steering angle of a steering wheel, wheels of the vehicle, or a combination thereof. A throttle sensor and a braking sensor sense the throttle position and braking position of the vehicle, respectively. In some situations, a throttle sensor and a braking sensor may be integrated as an integrated throttle/braking sensor.

In one embodiment, vehicle control system 111 includes, but is not limited to, steering unit 201, throttle unit 202 (also referred to as an acceleration unit), and braking unit 203. Steering unit 201 is to adjust the direction or heading of the vehicle. Throttle unit 202 is to control the speed of the motor or engine that in turn controls the speed and acceleration of the vehicle. Braking unit 203 is to decelerate the vehicle by providing friction to slow the wheels or tires of the vehicle. Note that the components as shown in FIG. 2 may be implemented in hardware, software, or a combination thereof.

Referring back to FIG. 1, wireless communication system 112 is to allow communication between autonomous vehicle 101 and external systems, such as devices, sensors, other vehicles, etc. For example, wireless communication system 112 can wirelessly communicate with one or more devices directly or via a communication network, such as servers 103-104 over network 102. Wireless communication system 112 can use any cellular communication network or a wireless local area network (WLAN), e.g., using WiFi to communicate with another component or system. Wireless communication system 112 could communicate directly with a device (e.g., a mobile device of a passenger, a display device, a speaker within vehicle 101), for example, using an infrared link, Bluetooth, etc. User interface system 113 may be part of peripheral devices implemented within vehicle 101 including, for example, a keyboard, a touch screen display device, a microphone, and a speaker, etc.

Some or all of the functions of autonomous vehicle 101 may be controlled or managed by perception and planning system 110, especially when operating in an autonomous driving mode. Perception and planning system 110 includes the necessary hardware (e.g., processor(s), memory, storage) and software (e.g., operating system, planning and routing programs) to receive information from sensor system 115, control system 111, wireless communication system 112, and/or user interface system 113, process the received information, plan a route or path from a starting point to a destination point, and then drive vehicle 101 based on the planning and control information. Alternatively, perception and planning system 110 may be integrated with vehicle control system 111.

For example, a user as a passenger may specify a starting location and a destination of a trip, for example, via a user interface. Perception and planning system 110 obtains the trip related data. For example, perception and planning system 110 may obtain location and route information from an MPOI server, which may be a part of servers 103-104. The location server provides location services and the MPOI server provides map services and the POIs of certain locations. Alternatively, such location and MPOI information may be cached locally in a persistent storage device of perception and planning system 110.

While autonomous vehicle 101 is moving along the route, perception and planning system 110 may also obtain real-time traffic information from a traffic information system or server (TIS). Note that servers 103-104 may be operated by a third party entity. Alternatively, the functionalities of servers 103-104 may be integrated with perception and planning system 110. Based on the real-time traffic information, MPOI information, and location information, as well as real-time local environment data detected or sensed by sensor system 115 (e.g., obstacles, objects, nearby vehicles), perception and planning system 110 can plan an optimal route and drive vehicle 101, for example, via control system 111, according to the planned route to reach the specified destination safely and efficiently.

Server 103 may be a data analytics system to perform data analytics services for a variety of clients. In one embodiment, data analytics system 103 includes data collector 121 and machine learning engine 122. Data collector 121 collects driving statistics 123 from a variety of vehicles, either autonomous vehicles or regular vehicles driven by human drivers. Driving statistics 123 include information indicating the driving commands (e.g., throttle, brake, steering commands) issued and responses of the vehicles (e.g., speeds, accelerations, decelerations, directions) captured by sensors of the vehicles at different points in time. Driving statistics 123 may further include information describing the driving environments at different points in time, such as, for example, routes (including starting and destination locations), MPOIs, road conditions, weather conditions, etc.

Based on driving statistics 123, machine learning engine 122 generates or trains a set of rules, algorithms, and/or predictive models 124 for a variety of purposes. In one embodiment, algorithms/models 124 may include models to detect obstacles, algorithms for various image transformations, including but not limited to, blurring, JPEG compression, bit compression, color depth reduction, etc. The obstacle detection models may be deep learning neural network models such as deep convolution neural network models. Algorithms/models 124 can then be uploaded on ADVs to be utilized during autonomous driving in real-time.

FIGS. 3A and 3B are block diagrams illustrating an example of a perception and planning system used with an autonomous vehicle according to one embodiment. System 300 may be implemented as a part of autonomous vehicle 101 of FIG. 1 including, but is not limited to, perception and planning system 110, control system 111, and sensor system 115. Referring to FIGS. 3A-3B, perception and planning system 110 includes, but is not limited to, localization module 301, perception module 302, prediction module 303, decision module 304, planning module 305, control module 306, routing module 307, and adversarial sample module 308.

Some or all of modules 301-308 may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, these modules may be installed in persistent storage device 352, loaded into memory 351, and executed by one or more processors (not shown). Note that some or all of these modules may be communicatively coupled to or integrated with some or all modules of vehicle control system 111 of FIG. 2. Some of modules 301-308 may be integrated together as an integrated module. For example, adversarial samples module 308 may be integrated with perception module 302 as an integrated module.

Localization module 301 determines a current location of autonomous vehicle 300 (e.g., leveraging GPS unit 212) and manages any data related to a trip or route of a user. Localization module 301 (also referred to as a map and route module) manages any data related to a trip or route of a user. A user may log in and specify a starting location and a destination of a trip, for example, via a user interface. Localization module 301 communicates with other components of autonomous vehicle 300, such as map and route information 311, to obtain the trip related data. For example, localization module 301 may obtain location and route information from a location server and a map and POI (MPOI) server. A location server provides location services and an MPOI server provides map services and the POIs of certain locations, which may be cached as part of map and route information 311. While autonomous vehicle 300 is moving along the route, localization module 301 may also obtain real-time traffic information from a traffic information system or server.

Based on the sensor data provided by sensor system 115 and localization information obtained by localization module 301, a perception of the surrounding environment is determined by perception module 302. The perception information may represent what an ordinary driver would perceive surrounding a vehicle in which the driver is driving. The perception can include the lane configuration, traffic light signals, a relative position of another vehicle, a pedestrian, a building, crosswalk, or other traffic related signs (e.g., stop signs, yield signs), etc., for example, in a form of an object. The lane configuration includes information describing a lane or lanes, such as, for example, a shape of the lane (e.g., straight or curvature), a width of the lane, how many lanes in a road, one-way or two-way lane, merging or splitting lanes, exiting lane, etc.

Perception module 302 may include a computer vision system or functionalities of a computer vision system to process and analyze images captured by one or more cameras in order to identify objects and/or features in the environment of autonomous vehicle. The objects can include traffic signals, road way boundaries, other vehicles, pedestrians, and/or obstacles, etc. The computer vision system may use an object recognition algorithm, video tracking, and other computer vision techniques. In some embodiments, the computer vision system can map an environment, track objects, and estimate the speed of objects, etc. Perception module 302 can also detect objects based on other sensors data provided by other sensors such as a radar and/or LIDAR.

For each of the objects, prediction module 303 predicts what the object will behave under the circumstances. The prediction is performed based on the perception data perceiving the driving environment at the point in time in view of a set of map/rout information 311 and traffic rules 312. For example, if the object is a vehicle at an opposing direction and the current driving environment includes an intersection, prediction module 303 will predict whether the vehicle will likely move straight forward or make a turn. If the perception data indicates that the intersection has no traffic light, prediction module 303 may predict that the vehicle may have to fully stop prior to enter the intersection. If the perception data indicates that the vehicle is currently at a left-turn only lane or a right-turn only lane, prediction module 303 may predict that the vehicle will more likely make a left turn or right turn respectively.

For each of the objects, decision module 304 makes a decision regarding how to handle the object. For example, for a particular object (e.g., another vehicle in a crossing route) as well as its metadata describing the object (e.g., a speed, direction, turning angle), decision module 304 decides how to encounter the object (e.g., overtake, yield, stop, pass). Decision module 304 may make such decisions according to a set of rules such as traffic rules or driving rules 312, which may be stored in persistent storage device 352.

Routing module 307 is configured to provide one or more routes or paths from a starting point to a destination point. For a given trip from a start location to a destination location, for example, received from a user, routing module 307 obtains route and map information 311 and determines all possible routes or paths from the starting location to reach the destination location. Routing module 307 may generate a reference line in a form of a topographic map for each of the routes it determines from the starting location to reach the destination location. A reference line refers to an ideal route or path without any interference from others such as other vehicles, obstacles, or traffic condition. That is, if there is no other vehicle, pedestrians, or obstacles on the road, an ADV should exactly or closely follows the reference line. The topographic maps are then provided to decision module 304 and/or planning module 305. Decision module 304 and/or planning module 305 examine all of the possible routes to select and modify one of the most optimal routes in view of other data provided by other modules such as traffic conditions from localization module 301, driving environment perceived by perception module 302, and traffic condition predicted by prediction module 303. The actual path or route for controlling the ADV may be close to or different from the reference line provided by routing module 307 dependent upon the specific driving environment at the point in time.

Based on a decision for each of the objects perceived, planning module 305 plans a path or route for the autonomous vehicle, as well as driving parameters (e.g., distance, speed, and/or turning angle), using a reference line provided by routing module 307 as a basis. That is, for a given object, decision module 304 decides what to do with the object, while planning module 305 determines how to do it. For example, for a given object, decision module 304 may decide to pass the object, while planning module 305 may determine whether to pass on the left side or right side of the object. Planning and control data is generated by planning module 305 including information describing how vehicle 300 would move in a next moving cycle (e.g., next route/path segment). For example, the planning and control data may instruct vehicle 300 to move 10 meters at a speed of 30 mile per hour (mph), then change to a right lane at the speed of 25 mph.

Based on the planning and control data, control module 306 controls and drives the autonomous vehicle, by sending proper commands or signals to vehicle control system 111, according to a route or path defined by the planning and control data. The planning and control data include sufficient information to drive the vehicle from a first point to a second point of a route or path using appropriate vehicle settings or driving parameters (e.g., throttle, braking, steering commands) at different points in time along the path or route.

In one embodiment, the planning phase is performed in a number of planning cycles, also referred to as driving cycles, such as, for example, in every time interval of 100 milliseconds (ms). For each of the planning cycles or driving cycles, one or more control commands will be issued based on the planning and control data. That is, for every 100 ms, planning module 305 plans a next route segment or path segment, for example, including a target position and the time required for the ADV to reach the target position. Alternatively, planning module 305 may further specify the specific speed, direction, and/or steering angle, etc. In one embodiment, planning module 305 plans a route segment or path segment for the next predetermined period of time such as 5 seconds. For each planning cycle, planning module 305 plans a target position for the current cycle (e.g., next 5 seconds) based on a target position planned in a previous cycle. Control module 306 then generates one or more control commands (e.g., throttle, brake, steering control commands) based on the planning and control data of the current cycle.

Note that decision module 304 and planning module 305 may be integrated as an integrated module. Decision module 304/planning module 305 may include a navigation system or functionalities of a navigation system to determine a driving path for the autonomous vehicle. For example, the navigation system may determine a series of speeds and directional headings to affect movement of the autonomous vehicle along a path that substantially avoids perceived obstacles while generally advancing the autonomous vehicle along a roadway-based path leading to an ultimate destination. The destination may be set according to user inputs via user interface system 113. The navigation system may update the driving path dynamically while the autonomous vehicle is in operation. The navigation system can incorporate data from a GPS system and one or more maps so as to determine the driving path for the autonomous vehicle.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating an example of an adversarial sample module according to one embodiment. Adversarial sample module 308 can identify adversarial samples in a few image samples or an image stream (e.g., video feed). Referring to FIG. 4, in one embodiment, adversarial sample module 308 includes modules such as image receiver module 401, image transformation module 403, object detection module 405, similarity metric calculator 407, and adversarial sample detection module 409. Image receiver module 401 can receive one or more images from a sensor system (e.g., camera(s), LIDAR, RADAR or a combination thereof) of ADV 101. Image transformation module 403 can apply an image transformation to a received image to generate a set of transformed images. Examples of image transformations include but not limited to blurring, bit reduction, color reduction, JPEG compression, various spatial filtering, etc. Object detection module 405 can detect, classify objects in images (for both the original and the transformed images). Object detection module 405 can generate output images with objects marked with a bounding box with an associated confidence score for the object classification. In one embodiment, object detection module 405 is implemented by machine learning or artificial intelligence models such as deep neural network models. These models may not detect objects in adversarial samples caused by overfitting or underfitting of data during model training. Similarity metric calculator 407 can calculate a similarity metric for any two output images or object detection outputs. The similarity metric can generate a similarity score based on a distance between two images. For example, for any two images, a distance can be calculated based on weighted factors such as a difference in the number of bounding boxes detection, overlapping areas of the bounding boxes, whether the objects classification matches for the overlapping bounding boxes. Adversarial sample detection module 409 can determine the image is an adversarial sample if a similarity metrics between an original and each of the transformations of the image is above a predetermined threshold. Adversarial sample detection module 409 can also affirm the sample is indeed adversarial based on a temporal variation in the detections.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a workflow to detect adversarial samples according to one embodiment. Workflow 500 can be performed by system 100 of FIG. 1. Specifically, workflow 500 can be performed by module 308 of FIG. 3B. Referring to FIGS. 4-5, in one embodiment, workflow 500 receives a time sequence of input images (time=t0, t1, . . . tN) 501, one or more images at a time. In another embodiment, workflow 500 receives a video feed. For each image received, workflow 500 can apply one or more image transformations (T1, T2, . . . TM) 503 (using image transformation module 403) to the image. The image transformation(s) include a blurring, a filtering, a color reduction, a bit reduction, a JPEG compression, etc., or a combination thereof. For example, let image0 be an image at time=0, a reference time. Image0 can be applied a JPEG compression, e.g., Tl(image0). The original image and its transformation, e.g., image0 and T1(image0) can be passed through an objection detection module 405. Objection detection module 405 generates outputs for the original image 513 and the transformed image(s) 515 using an object detection ML/AI model or an image recognition model. Workflow 500 then applies a similarity metric calculation 507 (using similarity metric calculator module 407) to calculate a distance measurement for the image0/T1(image0) pair. Although only one transformation is shown, multiple transformations can be applied to generate one or more pairs for similarity determinations, such as, image0/T1(image0), image0/T2(image0), image0/T3(image0) image0/TM(image0).

The distance measurement can be calculated based on an equation with weighted factor. For example, for the original image (e.g., image0) and a transformed image (e.g., T1(image0)), the equation for the distance (similarity metric) can be: Distance=w_1*(f_1)+w2*(f_2)+ . . . , where w_x is a weight, and f_x is a factor representing a difference in characteristics between the outputs of the original and the transformed images. The difference factors can include, but is not limited to, a ratio for the number of bounding boxes inferred by the object detection algorithm, a ratio for the number of overlapping bounding boxes, a percentage of matching object classification for each of the bounding boxes, a difference in confidence scores for the bounding boxes, and the percentage of overlapping areas for the overlapping bounding boxes, between the original image and the transformed image(s).

Based on the distance measurement calculations for each of the image0 and one or more corresponding transformation image(s), workflow 500 determines whether the image image0 is an adversarial sample 509. In one embodiment, image0 is adversarial if the difference measurement is above a first predetermined threshold. Here, adversarial sample refers to samples with a perturbation that causes an object from the image not to be detected by an object detection module. The motivation is that the transformed image would again allow the objects to be detected because the detection of adversarial samples is not consistent across transformations and these inconsistencies are captured by the transformed images.

In another embodiment, the adversarial image is confirmed by a temporal variation 511 when the difference measurement is inconsistent for two or more time samples. E.g., an object captured by a capturing device between consecutive time frames (e.g., t=0 and t=1) should be present in both time frames. Thus, if an object drops from a frame and one or more of the previous frames capture the object then the frame may be confirmed as an adversarial sample. The determination can be calculated by analyzing distance measurements for consecutive image frames for temporal variations in the distance measurements. For example, if a difference in the distance measurements between a current time frame and a prior time frame is above a second predetermined threshold then the image for the current time frame is confirmed as an adversarial sample. In another embodiment, the temporal variation analysis can be performed by a ML/AI model or any statistical models.

In one embodiment, if an image frame is detected as an adversarial sample, the ADV can activate a failsafe mechanism for the ADV. For example, a sensor system of the ADV can forego the adversarial frame(s), e.g., one or more frame(s) are temporarily ignored, until the adversarial sample lapses. In another embodiment, the adversarial image is augmented or substituted by another images from other camera, infrared, LIDAR, RADAR, or other imaging sensors of the ADV. In one embodiment, if the vehicle is in self-driving mode while an adversarial sample is detected and/or confirmed, the ADV enters a failsafe mode and alerts (via display, sound, or haptic feedback vibrations, etc.) a user to temporarily take over the steering of the ADV. Although only some failsafe mechanisms are described, other conventional failsafe mechanisms can be employed.

FIGS. 6-7 illustrate that ML/AI models for obstacle detection have blindspots. FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating an output of an object detection system for a vehicle according to one embodiment. FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an output of an object detection system for a vehicle with a perturbation according to one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 6, a white van is detected (with bounding box) as a ‘car’ with a confidence score of 0.99. While FIG. 7 shows the same van with a perturbation, but however the van is not detected to be an obstacle. Here, both scenarios use the same objection detection algorithm (e.g., same ML/AI model) for the object detection.

FIG. 8 is a flow diagram illustrating a method according to one embodiment. Process 800 may be performed by processing logic which may include software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, process 800 may be performed by perception and planning system 110 of FIG. 1 or adversarial sample module 308 of FIG. 3B. Referring to FIG. 8, at block 801, processing logic receives a first image captured by a capturing device of an ADV. At block 802, processing logic applies an image transformation to the first image to generate a second image. At block 803, processing logic applies an object detection model to the first and the second images to generate a first and a second output, respectively. At block 804, processing logic calculates a similarity metric between the first and the second output. At block 805, processing logic detects the first image as an adversarial sample if a temporal variation of the similarity metric between the first image and a prior image is above a threshold.

In one embodiment, the first and the second output includes a list of bounding boxes, the locations of the bounding boxes, and annotation of each class objects for the bounding boxes for the input image. In one embodiment, the image transformation includes a color depth reduction, an image compression, or a blurring transformation. In one embodiment, the similarity metric is calculated based on a distance between two inputs.

In another embodiment, the distance includes differences in the class prediction, number of bounding boxes, and overlapping regions of the bounding boxes. In one embodiment, processing logic further activates a failsafe mechanism for the ADV if an adversarial sample is identified. In another embodiment, the failsafe mechanism includes ignoring the adversarial sample or transferring control to a user of the ADV if the ADV is in self-driving mode.

Note that some or all of the components as shown and described above may be implemented in software, hardware, or a combination thereof. For example, such components can be implemented as software installed and stored in a persistent storage device, which can be loaded and executed in a memory by a processor (not shown) to carry out the processes or operations described throughout this application. Alternatively, such components can be implemented as executable code programmed or embedded into dedicated hardware such as an integrated circuit (e.g., an application specific IC or ASIC), a digital signal processor (DSP), or a field programmable gate array (FPGA), which can be accessed via a corresponding driver and/or operating system from an application. Furthermore, such components can be implemented as specific hardware logic in a processor or processor core as part of an instruction set accessible by a software component via one or more specific instructions.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a data processing system which may be used with one embodiment of the invention. For example, system 1500 may represent any of data processing systems described above performing any of the processes or methods described above, such as, for example, ADV 101 or a server described above, such as, for example, server 103, as described above.

System 1500 can include many different components. These components can be implemented as integrated circuits (ICs), portions thereof, discrete electronic devices, or other modules adapted to a circuit board such as a motherboard or add-in card of the computer system, or as components otherwise incorporated within a chassis of the computer system.

Note also that system 1500 is intended to show a high level view of many components of the computer system. However, it is to be understood that additional components may be present in certain implementations and furthermore, different arrangement of the components shown may occur in other implementations. System 1500 may represent a desktop, a laptop, a tablet, a server, a mobile phone, a media player, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a Smartwatch, a personal communicator, a gaming device, a network router or hub, a wireless access point (AP) or repeater, a set-top box, or a combination thereof. Further, while only a single machine or system is illustrated, the term “machine” or “system” shall also be taken to include any collection of machines or systems that individually or jointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

In one embodiment, system 1500 includes processor 1501, memory 1503, and devices 1505-1508 via a bus or an interconnect 1510. Processor 1501 may represent a single processor or multiple processors with a single processor core or multiple processor cores included therein. Processor 1501 may represent one or more general-purpose processors such as a microprocessor, a central processing unit (CPU), or the like. More particularly, processor 1501 may be a complex instruction set computing (CISC) microprocessor, reduced instruction set computing (RISC) microprocessor, very long instruction word (VLIW) microprocessor, or processor implementing other instruction sets, or processors implementing a combination of instruction sets. Processor 1501 may also be one or more special-purpose processors such as an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a cellular or baseband processor, a field programmable gate array (FPGA), a digital signal processor (DSP), a network processor, a graphics processor, a network processor, a communications processor, a cryptographic processor, a co-processor, an embedded processor, or any other type of logic capable of processing instructions.

Processor 1501, which may be a low power multi-core processor socket such as an ultra-low voltage processor, may act as a main processing unit and central hub for communication with the various components of the system. Such processor can be implemented as a system on chip (SoC). Processor 1501 is configured to execute instructions for performing the operations and steps discussed herein. System 1500 may further include a graphics interface that communicates with optional graphics subsystem 1504, which may include a display controller, a graphics processor, and/or a display device.

Processor 1501 may communicate with memory 1503, which in one embodiment can be implemented via multiple memory devices to provide for a given amount of system memory. Memory 1503 may include one or more volatile storage (or memory) devices such as random access memory (RAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), static RAM (SRAM), or other types of storage devices. Memory 1503 may store information including sequences of instructions that are executed by processor 1501, or any other device. For example, executable code and/or data of a variety of operating systems, device drivers, firmware (e.g., input output basic system or BIOS), and/or applications can be loaded in memory 1503 and executed by processor 1501. An operating system can be any kind of operating systems, such as, for example, Windows® operating system from Microsoft®, Mac OS®/iOS® from Apple, Android® from Google®, Linux®, Unix®, or other real-time or embedded operating systems such as VxWorks.

System 1500 may further include IO devices such as devices 1505-1508, including network interface device(s) 1505, optional input device(s) 1506, and other optional IO device(s) 1507. Network interface device 1505 may include a wireless transceiver and/or a network interface card (NIC). The wireless transceiver may be a WiFi transceiver, an infrared transceiver, a Bluetooth transceiver, a WiMax transceiver, a wireless cellular telephony transceiver, a satellite transceiver (e.g., a global positioning system (GPS) transceiver), or other radio frequency (RF) transceivers, or a combination thereof. The NIC may be an Ethernet card.

Input device(s) 1506 may include a mouse, a touch pad, a touch sensitive screen (which may be integrated with display device 1504), a pointer device such as a stylus, and/or a keyboard (e.g., physical keyboard or a virtual keyboard displayed as part of a touch sensitive screen). For example, input device 1506 may include a touch screen controller coupled to a touch screen. The touch screen and touch screen controller can, for example, detect contact and movement or break thereof using any of a number of touch sensitivity technologies, including but not limited to capacitive, resistive, infrared, and surface acoustic wave technologies, as well as other proximity sensor arrays or other elements for determining one or more points of contact with the touch screen.

IO devices 1507 may include an audio device. An audio device may include a speaker and/or a microphone to facilitate voice-enabled functions, such as voice recognition, voice replication, digital recording, and/or telephony functions. Other IO devices 1507 may further include universal serial bus (USB) port(s), parallel port(s), serial port(s), a printer, a network interface, a bus bridge (e.g., a PCI-PCI bridge), sensor(s) (e.g., a motion sensor such as an accelerometer, gyroscope, a magnetometer, a light sensor, compass, a proximity sensor, etc.), or a combination thereof. Devices 1507 may further include an imaging processing subsystem (e.g., a camera), which may include an optical sensor, such as a charged coupled device (CCD) or a complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) optical sensor, utilized to facilitate camera functions, such as recording photographs and video clips. Certain sensors may be coupled to interconnect 1510 via a sensor hub (not shown), while other devices such as a keyboard or thermal sensor may be controlled by an embedded controller (not shown), dependent upon the specific configuration or design of system 1500.

To provide for persistent storage of information such as data, applications, one or more operating systems and so forth, a mass storage (not shown) may also couple to processor 1501. In various embodiments, to enable a thinner and lighter system design as well as to improve system responsiveness, this mass storage may be implemented via a solid state device (SSD). However in other embodiments, the mass storage may primarily be implemented using a hard disk drive (HDD) with a smaller amount of SSD storage to act as a SSD cache to enable non-volatile storage of context state and other such information during power down events so that a fast power up can occur on re-initiation of system activities. Also a flash device may be coupled to processor 1501, e.g., via a serial peripheral interface (SPI). This flash device may provide for non-volatile storage of system software, including a basic input/output software (BIOS) as well as other firmware of the system.

Storage device 1508 may include computer-accessible storage medium 1509 (also known as a machine-readable storage medium or a computer-readable medium) on which is stored one or more sets of instructions or software (e.g., module, unit, and/or logic 1528) embodying any one or more of the methodologies or functions described herein. Processing module/unit/logic 1528 may represent any of the components described above, such as, for example, perception and planning system 110 of FIG. 1 or adversarial sample module 308 of FIG. 3B. Processing module/unit/logic 1528 may also reside, completely or at least partially, within memory 1503 and/or within processor 1501 during execution thereof by data processing system 1500, memory 1503 and processor 1501 also constituting machine-accessible storage media. Processing module/unit/logic 1528 may further be transmitted or received over a network via network interface device 1505.

Computer-readable storage medium 1509 may also be used to store the some software functionalities described above persistently. While computer-readable storage medium 1509 is shown in an exemplary embodiment to be a single medium, the term “computer-readable storage medium” should be taken to include a single medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributed database, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one or more sets of instructions. The terms “computer-readable storage medium” shall also be taken to include any medium that is capable of storing or encoding a set of instructions for execution by the machine and that cause the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologies of the present invention. The term “computer-readable storage medium” shall accordingly be taken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, and optical and magnetic media, or any other non-transitory machine-readable medium.

Processing module/unit/logic 1528, components and other features described herein can be implemented as discrete hardware components or integrated in the functionality of hardware components such as ASICS, FPGAs, DSPs or similar devices. In addition, processing module/unit/logic 1528 can be implemented as firmware or functional circuitry within hardware devices. Further, processing module/unit/logic 1528 can be implemented in any combination hardware devices and software components.

Note that while system 1500 is illustrated with various components of a data processing system, it is not intended to represent any particular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components; as such details are not germane to embodiments of the present invention. It will also be appreciated that network computers, handheld computers, mobile phones, servers, and/or other data processing systems which have fewer components or perhaps more components may also be used with embodiments of the invention.

Some portions of the preceding detailed descriptions have been presented in terms of algorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bits within a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions and representations are the ways used by those skilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their work to others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of operations leading to a desired result. The operations are those requiring physical manipulations of physical quantities.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar terms are to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and are merely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unless specifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, it is appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizing terms such as those set forth in the claims below, refer to the action and processes of a computer system, or similar electronic computing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented as physical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers and memories into other data similarly represented as physical quantities within the computer system memories or registers or other such information storage, transmission or display devices.

The techniques shown in the figures can be implemented using code and data stored and executed on one or more electronic devices. Such electronic devices store and communicate (internally and/or with other electronic devices over a network) code and data using computer-readable media, such as non-transitory computer-readable storage media (e.g., magnetic disks; optical disks; random access memory; read only memory; flash memory devices; phase-change memory) and transitory computer-readable transmission media (e.g., electrical, optical, acoustical or other form of propagated signals—such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digital signals).

The processes or methods depicted in the preceding figures may be performed by processing logic that comprises hardware (e.g. circuitry, dedicated logic, etc.), firmware, software (e.g., embodied on a non-transitory computer readable medium), or a combination of both. Although the processes or methods are described above in terms of some sequential operations, it should be appreciated that some of the operations described may be performed in a different order. Moreover, some operations may be performed in parallel rather than sequentially.

In the foregoing specification, embodiments of the invention have been described with reference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evident that various modifications may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the following claims. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method, comprising: receiving a first image captured by a capturing device of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV); performing an image transformation to transform the first image to a second image; applying an object detection model to the first image and the second image to generate a first output and a second output, respectively; calculating a similarity metric between the first output and the second output; and detecting that the first image as an adversarial sample if a temporal variation of the similarity metric between the first image and a prior image is above a predetermined threshold.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first output and the second output includes a list of bounding boxes, the locations of the bounding boxes, and annotation of each class objects for the bounding boxes for the input image.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the image transformation includes a color depth reduction, an image compression, or a blurring transformation.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the similarity metric is calculated based on a distance between a plurality of inputs.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the distance includes differences in class prediction, number of bounding boxes, and overlapping regions of the bounding boxes.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising activating a failsafe mechanism for the ADV if an adversarial sample is detected.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the failsafe mechanism includes ignoring the adversarial sample or transferring control to a user of the ADV if the ADV is in self-driving mode.
 8. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having instructions stored therein, which when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations comprising: receiving a first image captured by a capturing device of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV); performing an image transformation to transform the first image to a second image; applying an object detection model to the first image and the second image to generate a first output and a second output, respectively; calculating a similarity metric between the first output and the second output; and detecting that the first image as an adversarial sample if a temporal variation of the similarity metric between the first image and a prior image is above a predetermined threshold.
 9. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein each of the first output and the second output includes a list of bounding boxes, the locations of the bounding boxes, and annotation of each class objects for the bounding boxes for the input image.
 10. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the image transformation includes a color depth reduction, an image compression, or a blurring transformation.
 11. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the similarity metric is calculated based on a distance between a plurality of inputs.
 12. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 11, wherein the distance includes differences in class prediction, number of bounding boxes, and overlapping regions of the bounding boxes.
 13. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 8, wherein the operations further comprise activating a failsafe mechanism for the ADV if an adversarial sample is identified.
 14. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 13, wherein the failsafe mechanism includes ignoring the adversarial sample or transferring control to a user of the ADV if the ADV is in self-driving mode.
 15. A data processing system, comprising: a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor to store instructions, which when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations, the operations including receiving a first image captured by a capturing device of an autonomous driving vehicle (ADV), performing an image transformation to transform the first image to a second image, applying an object detection model to the first image and the second image to generate a first output and a second output, respectively, calculating a similarity metric between the first output and the second output, and detecting that the first image as an adversarial sample if a temporal variation of the similarity metric between the first image and a prior image is above a predetermined threshold.
 16. The system of claim 15, wherein each of the first output and the second output includes a list of bounding boxes, the locations of the bounding boxes, and annotation of each class objects for the bounding boxes for the input image.
 17. The system of claim 15, wherein the image transformation includes a color depth reduction, an image compression, or a blurring transformation.
 18. The system of claim 15, wherein the similarity metric is calculated based on a distance between a plurality of inputs.
 19. The system of claim 18, wherein the distance includes differences in class prediction, number of bounding boxes, and overlapping regions of the bounding boxes.
 20. The system of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise activating a failsafe mechanism for the ADV if an adversarial sample is identified.
 21. The system of claim 20, wherein the failsafe mechanism includes ignoring the adversarial sample or transferring control to a user of the ADV if the ADV is in self-driving mode. 